Crown of Thorns
by BlackStar42Roses
Summary: Hibari learns exactly how lonely it was when Yamamoto isn't with him. Yaoi, Romance.


Crown of Thorns KHR  
>8018<p>

Hello guys~ I've got another story, yippee. Proofread by my friend Kitty and marked on paper~ since I'm one of those people who need to write the story out no matter how long it is so I feel like I'm in control of it, and not fall into the habit of writing forever on the computer because it's faster. Ha, ha, ungh~

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Le gasp. Any similarities in events or characters living or dead are entirely coincidental.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Hibari Kyoya is often inclined to believe that Yamamoto Takeshi is insane. Not the oh-he's-just-fooling-around kind of insane. He's <em>insane<em> insane. Or that's just his opinion anyway. But really, who wants to disagree with _the_ Hibari.

"Hibari! Look! It's Pepperhead!"

The raven resisted the urge to beat the taller man next to him senseless as Yamamoto grabbed his hand and dragged the former prefect over to the window of the toy store, captivated by the ridiculous orange and yellow stuffed pepper in a superman suit. "I can't believe it! I haven't seen one of these for years!" Hibari scowled darkly.

"You are fucking twenty-four years old, Yamamoto. Get your nose off the window." Hibari hissed, yanking on the back of the swordsman's sports jacket. Yamamoto gave him the puppy eyes, pouting and pointing at the toy. "But it's limited edition. I loved the manga when I was a kid. C'mon, Hibari, just this once!"

"I said _no_, moron." The raven snarled. "We're ten minutes late because you wanted to stop and stare at that stupid shiny baseball card two blocks ago, now _move_." Strictly speaking, that was not true, since Hibari was the one who spent twenty minutes in the convenience store buying a bento and tea, and Yamamoto had passed the time browsing the sports magazine section, but the idiot didn't need to know.

"Damn!" Yamamoto cursed in surprise, checking his own watch. "When did that happen? C'mon, let's go then!" He immediately set off at a brisk pace down the sidewalk. Hibari huffed a little, hiding a small smile of amusement. It had just occurred to him that Yamamoto probably knew he was lying, but chose to go along just for Hibari's sake. But the raven didn't miss the look of longing on the other's face as they departed from the toy store. He shook his head. Silly baseball idiot.

* * *

><p>They arrived fashionably late to Dino's hotel, and after cramming themselves into an elevator with half a dozen of the Bucking Horse's men (before Hibari kicked them out halfway for crowding) they came to a halt on the top floor, and was ushered in by Romario.<p>

"Kyoya! Yamamoto! How've you been—ouch!" Dino fell backwards over the stool in the landing as Hibari smashed the end of his tonfa into the blonde's forehead.

"I didn't give you permission to use my name, Bucking Horse." Hibari seethed, getting ready to hit again, only to find his wrist in Yamamoto's firm grip. "Hey now, let's not get into an argument!" The swordsman said cheerfully, ignoring Hibari's burning glare. "We only came for the documents Tsuna sent us for."

"Which I have," Dino said, smartly ducking around Hibari's weapon and retrieving a thick, sealed envelope from a briefcase on the coffee table. "It's everything Tsuna asked me to find. Hope it'll help with his investigation."

"Thanks, Dino-san." Yamamoto said brightly, tucking the envelope into his jacket while Hibari glared daggers at everything. The two idiots chatted animatedly for a couple of minutes, catching up with each other like herbivores do. Finally, Yamamoto finished his conversation, and Hibari made sure to walk over his socked foot as the swordsman was searching for his shoes. "Hurry up."

"No need to rush, Hibari, we've plenty of time."

"That's just you. I have plenty of work to do, unlike some people."

"Aww. Do you have bad time management?"

"Oh, really? And who was it that needed me to finish his reports because he's drowning in unfinished work, pray tell?"

"Gee, forget a mission report once and you're marked for life!"

"You two are such an adorable couple," Dino teased. A moment later, Yamamoto had to seize Hibari around the waist and throw him out of the hotel room to prevent him from mauling a poor, shaking Dino to death.

* * *

><p>"Are you mad at me?"<p>

Silence.

"You're still mad, aren't you?"

Crickets were chirping in the late autumn night now.

"C'mon, Hibari, don't be such a spoilsport. You knew Dino was teasing you." Yamamoto said, now plopping himself on the chair opposite Hibari while the other worked on the kitchen table, finalizing a long-drawn research document that Tsuna had been pestering him to finish for weeks. The raven ignored his boyfriend, choosing instead to click his pencil for more lead. Yamamoto pouted, watching Hibari write, then got up and vanished from the raven's peripheral vision. Hibari was mentally congratulating himself for not caving in and shouting, _"Yes, blockhead, I'm pissed as hell.",_ when he felt strong arms wrap around him from behind and lift him off the chair.

"Idiot! What the hell are you doing?" Hibari snarled, squirming like an angry cat. Yamamoto laughed it off, half dragging Hibari into the comfy living room and dropping him onto the couch. The raven smacked the swordsman's arm irritably, glaring. "I have work." Yamamoto grinned. "You're still mad."

"Bloody well I am. You're crowding me."

"I'm at arm's length away from you. Besides, I'm the one that should be mad. You promised not to cause a riot when we went over to Dino's. And what did you do? Make a riot." Yamamoto finished his speech and planted his hands on his hips, reminding Hibari of Gokudera when he gets defensive. The Cloud Guardian glared again and looked away, crossing his arms over his chest. Yamamoto sighed. He crouched in front of the former prefect and reached out to grasp Hibari's hand.

"Look, I know Dino was your ex, but you know he's not a bad person. Things just didn't work out, but you don't have to solve every problem you encounter with violence."

Hibari stood up sharply, knocking Yamamoto's hand away from him. Onyx eyes burned with anger as he said in a low voice, "I have no feelings for the Bucking Horse anymore, even if I did like him in the past. You should know by now that if I'm with you, nobody else means anything to be either." He turned on his heel and walked back into the kitchen, grabbed his things, and stalked off into his study, locking the door behind him. Yamamoto had not moved from his position in front of the couch. Hibari didn't have to turn and see to know the look Yamamoto had in his eyes when he mentioned that Dino was Hibari's ex. He refused to look at Yamamoto when he had such a herbivore expression on his face.

* * *

><p>The raven opened his eyes around midday to Hibird's chirping on the windowsill outside. He sat up, stiff and slightly sore from falling asleep on his desk, using his folder as a pillow. Hibari yawned and stretched, making his back pop in several places. He wandered out into the rest of the apartment. It was quiet, save for the radio on the table playing a French song and the hum of the refrigerator. Hibari checked their bedroom and the bathroom; Yamamoto wasn't there. The bed was neatly made and the finished files stacked on the nightstand. He shrugged. Yamamoto was a grown man; he didn't need to tell Hibari where he was every moment of the day. Hibird had flown in from the open kitchen window, nibbling on the bowl of nuts on the counter. Taking advantage of the temporary absence of the Rain Guardian, Hibari took a hot shower and dressed, choosing to skip breakfast in favour of completing his report. When he was done, he grabbed his car keys, stuffed the fat folder into his bag, and went down to the car park to find his car.<p>

Yamamoto's usual spot was empty. Hibari ignored it and started the engine. The trip over to Tsuna's was uncomfortably silent to the point where Hibari actually jabbed the radio button to let the annoying French song food his car again. A traffic jam on Fifth Avenue stalled him for twenty minutes. Later, he almost rear-ended another car that slammed on its breaks to avoid hitting a dog. He arrived at Tsuna's place a little after twelve, stomach rumbling in protest. When he knocked loudly on the Sky Guardian's door, it was opened by a disgruntled Gokudera.

"What did you forget now, you baseball freak—Hibari!" The silverette's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What're you doing here?"

"Why can't I be here?" Hibari retorted, forcing his way in. "I'm handing in a report to the omnivore, and I find you method of greeting offensive, since you've all been badgering me for weeks to get it done and when I come up, you're rude and disagreeable, so shut up and get out of my way before I bite you to death."

Gokudera's jaw dropped. That was probably the longest conversation he'd ever had with the former prefect. He follwed Hibari back into the shared flat as the raven navigated his way around, pushing boxes and piles of unfiled reports aside with his foot and an annoyed expression on his face. Tsuna was on the phone in his office, looking hassled and ridiculous in pajama bottoms and a Hawaiian shirt that even Ryohei wouldn't wear. The office was so cramped with useless crap that Hibari barely had any room to stand, let alone sit, which was also impossible due to the fact that dirty plates and a large box of rings occupied the lonely folding chair in front of Tsuna's desk. Gokudera squeezed himself in behind a coat rack. It was the first time Hibari actually felt crowded by inanimate objects.

"Then don't tail them anymore, Nii-san, and pull Mukuro off the mission before he screws something up and gets us all into more trouble." Tsuna looked up to acknowledge Hibari before returning to his conversation on the phone. "No, no, I doubt that Basil would get better results than we would anyway, so it's best to put the whole thing on hold until Lal Mirch gets back from Sweden." A pause. "Okay then, I'll arrange tickets for you tonight so you can board the first flight tomorrow morning. Okay. Take care." Tsuna hung up and rubbed his eyes, looking stressed.

"The Columbian Mission not going well, Boss?" Gokudera asked, dragging a sealed box over so he could plop down on it. Tsuna sighed, staring slightly off into space. "Our spy blew his cover, so I sent Ryohei to extract the information from him before the spy gets caught, but he was sabotaged on the plane so Mukuro had to go help. Then one of our hideouts was discovered and I had to redirect them to another one. This mission's being put on hold until we can get a larger party from CEDEF to back us up."

Hibari snorted. "Herbivores," he muttered, not feeling much sympathy for the others. He'd been stuck in plenty of dangerous situations that had actually made him fight his way out, and Hibari is not often forced to struggle out of a battle. He opened his bag and tossed his report onto the already over-cluttered desk. Tsuna's eyes widened and the pounced on it like a starving animal.

"The Magnum Family research! You finished it!" Tsuna fell back into his chair, hugging the file to his chest. "Thanks a million, Hibari. You saved our lives, you did."

Hibari shrugged, rolling his eyes. His gaze landed on another folder balanced carefully on a pile of loose papers next to Tsuna's laptop. His eyes narrowed as he snatched it up at once, turning the yellow package over to see Dino's family crest stamped on the broken seal. He turned to Tsuna, holding it up. "Yamamoto was here, wasn't he?" The smaller man glanced at the file, gulped a little, but nodded.

"Yeah…he came in to give this to us and left a little while before you arrived. He kept forgetting things and came back a lot though. I thought you'd have run into him on your way up."

Hibari scowled, throwing the folder back onto the pile. "Bastard. So he came here." He crossed his arms and glared at the corner of the room, quietly seething. Gokudera cleared his throat awkwardly. Tsuna looked worried and timidly asked, "Umm…Hibari, is everything alright between you and…?"

"Everything is fine." Hibari snapped, positively radiating a deadly aura now. Nobody said anything, but they were all aware of the similarities between the present Hibari and the post-Dino Hibari two years ago. There were lots of glaring, lots of awkward silence, and tons of broken things. Including two bones. Finally, the former prefect picked up his bag and growled, "I'm leaving. I'll find the idiot and talk to him later."

"Oh, uh, well, that's…kind of impossible, Hibari." Tsuna said weakly. "Yamamoto offered to take the cover mission over in Italy and he won't be back until a week, on the twenty-fourth." Another very awkward silence. Then Hibari spun on his heel and stormed from the office, actually tripping over a laundry hamper on his way out in blind anger. Gokudera and Tsuna exchanged nervous looks. At this rate, they were probably going to face the wrath of a post-Yamamoto Hibari in a week's worth of time.

* * *

><p>Hibari would never admit it out loud, even well into the future, that he missed Yamamoto in the week he was gone. Sure, they've both spent a longer amount of time away from each other before, but right now, there was a different kind of emptiness lingering around their apartment. The kitchen was cold and lonely. The living room lost its usual warmth. The bed became so big and unbearable Hibari was reduced to sleeping on the couch to get away from it. The silence was painful.<p>

It was two days after Yamamoto had left for his mission, and Hibari was curled up under two blankets on the sofa reading, when his cell phone buzzed to life on the coffee table. Frowning, he folded down the corner of the page he was reading and checked the screen. _Yamamoto Takeshi_. Hibari froze. His phone continued to buzz in his hand, the picture Yamamoto took of himself flashing across the screen, the herbivore grin glowing. Why was he calling him? Did something happen? The phone vibrated again. Completely mystified, Hibari unlocked the touch screen and lifted his phone to his ear.

"Yamamoto?"

There was a lot of noise in the background, like a crowd, and something that even sounded like music, though it was faint. There were voices, talking loudly now, but he couldn't hear Yamamoto's . They were all male, though, and their Japanese was awkward and had a definite accent on it.

"…so you meet Takeru-san at nine tomorrow morning. Right by double pillars."

"Okay then. Down by Baye Street, right?" Hibari's heart jumped when he heard Yamamoto speak. Why did he call Hibari if he wasn't talking to him? He pressed the phone to his ear, listening close.

"Right. Takeru-san take you to meet Mr. Jonas. Mr. Jonas will show you around place. Help you with misson."

"Alright. Thanks a bunch, Alvin. I'll head back over to the hotel now."

"Remember nine o'clock sharp!"

"Okay, okay," a laugh. "I'll set an alarm on my cell phone."

Hibari jerked in surprise, and then realization washed over him like a cold wave. Yamamoto _hadn't_ meant to call him. He probably dialed his phone by accident, and Hibari had picked up. The raven bit his lip, a dull throb in his heart. He shouldn't have been so stupid to think that Yamamoto would call him. When it came to arguments, the Rain Guardian was nearly as stubborn as he was. Not that Hibari would ever admit that, either.

"Eh? When did I call someone?"

Hibari froze again.

"Wait a second…Hibari?" Now Yamamoto's voice was directly speaking into the mouthpiece now. "Hibari…? Hello?" His voice was cautious, and Hibari panicked. He yanked his phone away from his ear and jammed his thumb on the _end call_ button. The line disconnected, and, fumbling with the cell phone, he turned the device off as well.

He sat in numb silence for several moments, completely immersed in his own thoughts. The apartment seemed to have dropped several degrees, expanded, and darkened. Hibari shivered and yanked the comforter over his head, heart pounding excruciatingly in his chest. The sleep that followed was uneasy and punctured by the loneliness gnawing at his heart.

* * *

><p>The next morning, he was venting his anger (from Yamamoto's accidental butt-dialing incident) on two trespassers in the apartment's car garage when somebody called his name.<p>

"Kyoya?"

Hibari rounded on the new intruder immediately, lashing out with his tonfa, only to have the blow cleverly stopped by a handful of whip coiling around his wrist. Looking up, Hibari found himself standing inches from none other than Dino Callivone. He was so shocked he forgot to be rude and almost didn't register the use of his first name.

"What are you doing here?"

Dino shrugged, releasing his whip so that Hibari's wrist would be freed. "I was taking a stroll down this road when I heard yelling in the underground parking. So I came down and saw some guy beating up two others. I almost intervened, but then I saw it was you."

Hibari stared. "You're trespassing too."

"EH?" Dino said, surprised. "Whoa—wait, Hibari, don't—!"

"Get your ass here so I can properly bite you to death, herbivore!"

"Gah!"

A while later, Hibari found himself sitting in annoyance at the local clinic next to a dozen of Dino's men as the doctor patched the blonde up in the back room. Romario sighed in good humor and polished his glasses. A guy in a suit was doing crosswords in the paper. Another guy with a Mohawk was crackling his gum. Hibari's eye twitched. If he were still a prefect in school, he would have properly beaten that guy in for his hair and the bubblegum. Before he could carry out his thoughts though, the curtain parted with a swish and Dino came back out looking defeated and patched up, but still in high spirits.

"Boss! How are you feeling?" Romario immediately walked forward. Dino laughed, waving his hand.

"Not to worry, it's nothing life threatening!" his gaze fell onto Hibari sitting in a rather disgruntled manner on the plastic seats by the receptionist's desk. "Kyoya! You're still here—ouch!"

"Don't," Hibari snapped, reaching for another paperweight to throw at Dino, "call me that."

Dino whimpered a little, rubbing his forehead, where a magnificent bruise was blossoming across it. "Ne, Hibari, don't be so mean. It's been a while since I've seen you!"

"You saw me four days ago when we picked up the information for the omnivore."

Dino hesitated. "I meant…it's been a while since I've seen you alone. Without Yamamoto-kun."

Hibari stared. There was a moment of thick, very awkward silence, broken only by Romario's worried cough. The Cloud Guardian folded his arms across his chest, speaking in an icy voice that punched through the uncomfortable stillness like a knife. "What do you want, Bucking Horse?"

Dino offered a weak smile, rubbing the back of his neck. "How about lunch, for old times' sake?"

* * *

><p>To Dino's credit, he did pick a place that suited Hibari. It was a small, quiet café near the library downtown, tucked away from the busy street and noise. The food there was organic or something, and they had a lot of traditional dishes that Hibari often preferred over fast food. They were sitting in the corner by the window, shaded by a tall tree outside the patio. There were only two other customers; a man and his wife were seated outside enjoying lunch. Hibari was tempted to just get up and leave, but he felt too tired to do so. He hadn't slept well last night at all. Dino seemed to be aware of that too.<p>

"You don't look so good. Are you sick?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" his voice was worried. "We could go see a doctor if you like."

"I told you I'm fine."

"It's a terrible time to get sick. Rivals of the Vongola Family are really on the move since your last mission. You can't defend yourself if you're ill."

"Shut up. Why do you care, Bucking Horse?"

"Why wouldn't I care, Hibari? I know you're reckless all the time, and quite frankly, you don't take care of yourself at all! You're not suited to be alone, Kyoya."

Hibari tore his eyes away from the laughing couple outside to fix Dino with a piercing stare. "I wasn't the one who left, you know."

Judging by his expression, he knew at once those words had hit something painful inside of Dino, but right now, Hibari couldn't care less. He was tired, irritated, and he didn't want to see the Bucking Horse at all, really. Two years is not a long enough time to erase certain things, and Hibari most certainly did not suffer from memory loss. Dino had the grace to look ashamed. He looked down at his cup of coffee, staring sadly into the dark, bitter drink. Hibari almost snorted at the irony. That was exactly how their relationship ended.

"Kyoya, I'm sorry."

"Don't use my name."

Dino looked up, almost pleading. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Hibari actually laughed. Dino winced a little. "Hurt me? More like giving me a week's worth of bother clearing my house out of your stuff. Oh, and then there was moving out of that place, but I'm not fussed about it. If you intention of asking me out to lunch was to bring back useless memoirs of the past, save it. I couldn't care less."

Dino didn't answer for a while. He stirred his drink, and then asked quietly, "Where's Yamamoto?"

Hibari stiffened. "On a mission."

"Oh." Was all Dino said in reply, sipping his drink quietly. Twice the waiter came over to ask if they liked to order, and twice Dino shook his head as Hibari glared to poor guy down. Once again, Hibari was back in his post-Dino mode: awkward silence, angry glares, and just short of breaking things. In a strange way, this scene made him miss Yamamoto even more. The former baseball player always did the talking, and he never seemed to mind if Hibari didn't say much in response. If they had been here together, Yamamoto probably would have found something interesting to say about the menu, the weather, the interior design, or anything. When he had been together with Dino, the blonde had been kind and open with him, despite being a complete klutz all the time. But he wasn't Yamamoto. Yamamoto's kindness and warmth was very different from Dino's. Hibari's fingers curled tightly around his cup as he realized how empty he felt without the other. It both saddened and irked him.

The sound of a standard ringtone trilled in Dino's pocket. The blonde jumped a little, reaching into his coat to retrieve the device. Clumsy as he always was, the phone slipped from his fingers and bounced across the smooth wooden surface of the table, sliding to a halt in front of Hibari.

The caller ID was a picture of the mafia boss and another young man grinning up at the cell phone camera. The name _Basil_ flashed across the screen. Hibari stared impassively at it for a moment, then pushed the buzzing mobile back to Dino. "Your boyfriend?"

Dino hesitated, fidgeted, and looked down, whispering his answer to his knees. "I—"

Hibari's temper snapped. "You really are the biggest herbivore I've ever seen in my whole damn life, Bucking Horse!" The former prefect yanked out his tonfas and was in the midst of launching himself across the table at Dino when somebody grabbed the back of his jacket and yanked him backwards, nearly choking Hibari on the collar.

"VOIII! The first thing I see you do after three fucking years is you beating this loser up? Haven't changed much, have you!"

The loud, obnoxious, sarcastic and slightly deeper voice echoed painfully in Hibari's ear and he untangled himself from a mass of limbs and long silver hair. Dino gasped and jumped up in surprise. "Squalo?"

Hibari now rounded on his new target, steel edge of his tonfa meeting the other's sharp blade. "Fucking Varia bastard! What are you doing here!"

"VOI, what's your deal, shorty? You're the one going around waving a weapon!"

Hibari could barely believe his eyes. What was Superbi Squalo, of all people, doing here in Japan? It really was getting way too crowded now. Hibari snarled and pulled away from the taller man, glaring up at him. Dino stumbled over in a panic. "Squalo, why on earth are you here? Where's Xanxus? What the hell's going on?"

Squalo snorted in irritation. "I'm on a mission here."

"What?"

Squalo's sharp grey eyes bored down into Hibari's burning onyx ones. "Via that idiot of a Rain Guardian's asking. Sound familiar, scum?"

Hibari's heart pounded in is chest. "What happened to Yamamoto?" he demanded immediately. Squalo huffed in annoyance. "Time to go, Mr. Former Prefect. The klutz's got a phone call to take."

The Varia member turned on his heel and was walking out the door before Hibari realized it. Hardly sparing a glance back at Dino, he bolted out of the café after the silver-haired man. Squalo walked fast, or maybe it was just because he had longer legs. But then again, he wasn't nearly as tall as he used to be compared to Hibari anymore, since the raven was also a grown man now. The Cloud Guardian fell into step next to the shark.

"What happened to him, Squalo. Tell me_ now_."

"Tsk. You're pushy." Squalo snapped. Hibari bared his teeth, grabbing the other man's shoulder. Squalo glared at him. "Oi, let go."

"Tell me what happened now, or I swear to—"

"Nothing happened." Squalo said flatly, now stopping to face Hibari. "That arse got worried when you wouldn't pick up your cell phone and rung me up to tell me to go find you. I didn't want to do it, but he's such an annoying brat and he really doesn't shut up when you need him to, so I'm here to see if you're safe and whatever shit he wants."

Hibari growled. "What the hell?"

Squalo grunted in response. "I'm bored, man. You two are so fucking stupid. You should've just answered the blasted phone and I wouldn't even have to be here. If boss hadn't dispatched me to Japan beforehand I wouldn't have bothered."

Hibari didn't answer. One part of him was beyond relief that nothing happened to Yamamoto, and the other two parts were annoyed and still worried. What was taking him so long? Meanwhile, Squalo was mildly observing the rampage of expressions across Hibari's face. "Voi, you look like someone shoved a stick up your ass. Need an outlet?"

The gleaming sword on the silver-haired man's wrist was too tempting, and in the midst of his jumbled emotions, Hibari pulled out his tonfas without a second thought.

* * *

><p>It was nine o'clock that evening, and Hibari was currently lolling around on the bed, nursing his injuries. The battle with Squalo had been an excellent venting session, but it definatly came with a price. The silver-haired swordsman was experienced and bloodthirsty, and had a very different style from Yamamoto. At the moment, Hibari had cuts all over his arms, legs, and chest. One of his fingers was broken and wrapped in a splint. His ankle was slightly swollen from when he landed the wrong way while jumping off a bridge, his shoulder had been dislocated (and re-positioned by Squalo's awful medical skills), and his bangs were a little uneven to the side due to a very close call with the shark's wild swings. The raven was trying to shift into a more comfortable position on the bed when he heard it.<p>

The front door was opening.

Hibari sat up instantly, grabbing his tonfas. Was it a break in? The intruder was definatly trying to keep quiet. He heard shoes being slipped off and socked feet padding carefully across the living room, probably attempting to maneuver around the ridiculous mess he'd made during the week. Which sort of made sense, Hibari mused, since the apartment was very dark because he didn't bother to turn on any lights at all. He stood up, limping slightly because of his ankle, and moved silently to the door. The shadow of a man was moving into the kitchen, dropping off a large bag while doing so. Hibari's eyebrow twitched. That idiot had some nerve, throwing his crap around the flat like that. He pushed the door open with the end of his weapon and shuffled soundlessly behind the guy like a predator stalking its prey.

There was a loud bumping sound, a muffled curse, then the sound of a plate smashing on the floor, followed by an unsuccessfully stifled cuss word. Taking advantage of the intruder's clumsiness, Hibari whipped his hand around, smacked the light on, and launched his attack.

"Kamikorosu!"

"Whaa—?"

To Hibari's shock, yet another steel blade met his tonfa for the second time that day. A second later, he found himself virtually nose to nose with none other than Yamamoto Takeshi. The Rain Guardian's eyes widened almost comically at the sight of his boyfriend hovering above his spot on the floor next to the broken shards of the plate.

"Hibari! What are you doing out of bed?"

Hibari almost dropped his tonfa. "What are you doing in Japan?"

Yamamoto blinked. "I live in Japan."

Hibari stared, almost stuttering his response. "I—I know that, what are you doing in our _apartment_?"

Yamamoto tilted his head inquisitively. "I live in _our_ apartment too, you know."

Hibari snarled and let go of his tonfas altogether, launching himself at Yamamoto. "Why did you come back at all?"

Yamamoto hastily pushed the pieces of broken plate under the stove, grabbed for Hibari's hands and wrestled the raven out of the kitchen. "Whoa, whoa, hang on, Hibari, we can talk this out, you know!"

"Talk it out?" Hibari hissed, trying to tug his hands free. "Sure! Alright! For instance, maybe let's talk about why you left for two weeks without telling me? No message? No calls? Did you really want to get away from me so badly?"

"No, no, Hibari, that's not it," Yamamoto said urgently, tightening his grip. "Will you calm down?"

"Did you have a nice vacation? You look like you got a tan. Had a lot of fucking fun, didn't you? You didn't have to come back in such a hurry, you know. I can handle myself quite well. I don't need you around twenty-four seven."

"What are you talking about? I went away for work for Tsuna. I asked him to tell you that same day. He did tell you, didn't he?" Hibari almost laughed at the worried look on Yamamoto's face.

"Of course he did. Nice of the omnivore to do so, don't you think? Not that I care. I had quite a relaxing time while you were gone. Nobody making a mess in the bathroom at six in the morning. No idiot rolling onto my side of the bed at night and taking up my space—"

"Is that so?" Yamamoto challenged. "Then why does it look like you're been hibernating on the couch then?"

"I—I…" Hibari spluttered, given away by the mess of blankets and pillows on the sofa . Yamamoto glared back at him, eyes full of emotion that the raven couldn't really place. He pulled at his wrists again, shoulder protesting at the movement. "Let go of me. I don't need you here! I had plenty of free time to myself without you around! I finished all my work without you interrupting! I went out with the stupid Bucking Horse without you standing around me every second! I—"

"You went out with Dino?"

Hibari froze, realizing his mistake far too late. Yamamoto's face darkened considerably, hurt and disbelief flickering across his face. Silence settle over the apartment like a stifling blanket. Hibari bit his lip and yanked at his hands again. This time, Yamamoto let them slide from his grip without a fight. The raven rubbed his shoulder, which felt numb and disjointed still. He knew what Yamamoto was thinking even if the other didn't say anything out loud. Feeling the need to justify himself, Hibari finally said in a quiet voice, "I was beating up two trespassers in the car park the day after you accidentally called me. Dino came, and I beat him up for trespassing as well. He asked me if we could have lunch. It was just lunch, nothing more. Then the annoying shark showed up shouting something about you, and I left with him. Ask that blasted Varia idiot. I really was going to hit the Bucking Horse for being such a herbivore."

Yamamoto sat down heavily on the sofa, pushing Hibari's blanket out of the way. The stillness of the apartment was getting really uncomfortable now. Finally, Hibari took the initiative and walked over to the couch, kneeling down in front of it like Yamamoto had done to him days ago. Tilting his head upwards, he pressed his lips slightly against the Rain Guardian's. Yamamoto made no effort to push him away, but he didn't respond. Hibari pulled away, sitting on the floor.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. Yamamoto looked up. Hibari let his gaze drop again, speaking quietly to his knees. "I'm sorry, Takeshi."

Hands reached out to touch his face, and Hibari found himself looking into Yamamoto's dark eyes. The Cloud Guardian closed his as his boyfriend leaned in, kissing him back now, fingers lightly stroking his cheek. For a moment there was nothing but comfortable warmth, and when they finally pulled apart, Yamamoto was smiling slightly and Hibari had long succumbed to allowing the slight blush to tint his face. Yamamoto chuckled, closing a callused hand around Hibari's thin fingers.

"C'mon, let's go to bed. If you looked like somebody took the mickey out of you, then I'd hate to see how Squalo ended up."

* * *

><p><em>A month later.<em>

"Whew, the Columbian mission is finally closed now. What a nightmare." Yamamoto commented dryly, dropping his bags on the floor of the apartment as Hibari walked in behind him, toeing off his shoes and tossing his shoulder bag onto the coffee table as well. "I hope Tsuna can find somebody to do the cleaning up for us, because I'm gonna snooze for a week and nothing will ever disturb me until I catch up on the 72 hours of sleep I missed."

Hibari rubbed at his temples, trying to clear a migraine off as he walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water. "We've got to submit our mission reports in, baka. Might as well finish it now and sleep later."

Yamamoto groaned, faceplanting into the sofa. "The mission report can hang." He muttered dispiritedly. Hibari raised an eyebrow. It was rare to see the Rain Guardian so dispirited. It was usually Yamamoto who was poking at Hibari to finish his work before relaxing. Leaving his glass on the counter top, the raven ventured into their bedroom, sliding open the closet door to retrieve a paper bag with something inside of it. He made his way around Yamamoto's bag to where the ex-baseball player was flopping his arms like a fish out of water. He nudged Yamamoto over a little so he could perch on the edge of the couch. The Rain Guardian looked up when Hibari tossed the paper bag over to him.

"What's this?" Yamamoto asked, confused. Hibari looked away, determined not to make eye contact. Yamamoto peeled to tape off, confused. He turned the bag upside down, and out fell—

"Oh my god! It's _Pepperhead_! Hibari! You got me Pepperhead?"

Hibari blushed and glared fiercely down at his boyfriend. "This is the absolute last time you are ever getting anything so useless and impractical thing ever again, you hear me?"

The next thing the raven knew, Yamamoto had sat bolt upright, throwing his arms around Hibari's neck and dragged him onto the sofa in a great shout of laughter. "God, you're just the cutest, Hibari! Thank you!"

Hibari ducked, hiding the smile tugging at his lips. Yamamoto Takeshi really was insane. But he was his. All his. No way was Hibari letting him go again.

_End_

* * *

><p>So this was yet <em>another<em> piece that tortured me to no end..sigh. But it's okay, it's finished now anyway :D I was listening to the Circle of Life when I was writing this, haha.

Thank you for reading! Reviews are very much appreciated.

-BlackStar


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